The House I Live in, Reaction Paper Example

The main purpose of the movie “The House I Live In” is to emphasize reasons why the war on drugs will never end despite the attention that is drawn towards it for political agenda. Ultimately, the war on drugs in the United States is less concerned with the elimination of drugs in order to protect people from its detrimental effects and is used as a tool in order to get politicians elected. Unfortunately, the consequences of these actions hurt people more than it helps. These political actions manly impact poor drug addicts, who are likely to become incarcerated for drug use.

An additional reason for the ongoing war on drugs without any apparent improvement is the fact that law enforcement agencies receive greater amounts of compensation for these drug related arrests. These efforts are also linked to business in the country as well; the more criminals that are caught for drug related crimes, the more business that companies that produce police weapons and tools will make. Since these companies hold power, they will send lobbyists to local politicians to ensure that law enforcement policies remain static.

The trailer calls the drug war a “holocaust in slow motion”. This is a valid analysis because when thousands of the nation’s poor are sent to jail for drug use, families are ripped apart and become unable to support themselves. It is therefore essential to reconsider the war on drugs in the United States and consider the benefits that legalizing drugs would allow. Many states have already legalized marijuana for personal and medical use, and the economic situations of these locales have improved as a consequence. Therefore, it is important to restructure the argument for legalization in a manner that points out the negative effects of continued law enforcement policies on the matter and to reinforce the point that drugs are an industry that can lead to profit as well.